Fishing rig or leader



NOV 4, 1947. c solq 2,430,115

FISHING RIG OR LEADER Filed March 2, 1945 Patented Nov. 4, 1947 UNITED STATES ATENT OFF to E FISHING-RIG orenmnmt Louis A. I-I'i ckson, Philadelphia, Pan- Application March 2, 1945, Serial No. 580,553- 2: claims. (cilia-28:)

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in fishing rigs and the presentapplication isa continuation in part ofan application filed by me on November 1, 1944, hearing Serial No. 561,421.

The present application alsocontemplates the utilization of a main wire or leader from which extend two armsor Spreaders, one for supporting the upper hook and one for supporting the lower hook together with twocoll ars which, when respectively deformed, hold the spr'eaders in a fixed position.

In addition to the above, the present invention contemplates the" use of anupper link that is fixedly secured in place, which link can be opened or'closed so-that a swivel maybe attached at any time rathe'r'than' during the formation of the rig;

Furthermore, the invention contemplates the forming of a small bead or beads on theinner end of the spreaders and on the inner end of the free end of the fixed link-and on the free end of any loop; so that after the free ends with the beads thereon are placed through the respective collars and the collars" are deformed, there is no possibility of the free ends pulling out ofthec'ol lars unless the collars were entirely mutilated or broken.

Still another object of the invention is to-provide the spre'a'ders with loops at theirouter ends in which may be threaded'the gut'leaders ofthe respective hook to thus always hold the leader at the outer end" of the spreader" away from the main leader;

-Still another object of the invention is topros vide a fishing rig having an upper and lower spreader each with an eyelet at its outer end; the one eyelet being larger than the other with the Spreaders so formed that the larger eye-let maybe-turned on edge and the eyelet and the arms of thesmaller spreaderforcedslightly apart so*that the larger of the eyelets may b'e'pass'ed therethrougli so that when the rig is Woundfor packing the two ends of the rig will be h'eldtb ge'ther'and-the rig-may thenbe packed in a relativly' light paper or cellophane envelope" and can not spread or become unwrapped to force itself out of the envelope.

Still another object of the inVention-isto-pim" vide a strong andefiicient rig" or leader-having a fixed openable' link at its upper end and a closedloop, if desired, at its 1owerend-so'thata' detachable linle'may be passed"therethrough'to' se'cureithesinker or dipsy.

With these and numerous other-obj eets' in View; the invention consists in certain new 'and'nbvel 2 features dr' constructions as will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims- Referring: now to the drawings showing; a preferred embodiment:

Fig. 1-:showsAthe con-qpleted rig with the sinkei attached;

Figs zvis awsimilarview without the sinker and taken at right an'gle's 'to ligo 1- Fig. 3 :is an enlarged sectional'view" taken on line 53 of Fig; L;

Fig. 4* is an enlargedsectional view" taken on line a- '4 of mg; -1.-;:

Fist-:5 is an' .enlarged det'ailed sectional View of the icoilar showing the whichath'eicol 18K is crimped" to hold the ends 'cifthe several parts;

'16 is? enlarged detailed sectlonail view t'akeh on' lineof Fig; 5

Flex '7 isei'perspeotiveofi the upper spreader;

Fig. 8 i-s ain enlairged' 'perspeeti veofi the upper li-n-kfi Fig. 9* is -a detailed view showing; how the end of the free end of: a1 loop or :le'ad'er is beht to prevent the same from ever slipping through the collar;

Fig: ifl'iszain enlarged perspective" of a collar; and

Fig; ii is an elevational: view showing the leader'wrapped for packing-with the'one spreader assing; througlttlte other spreader;

Referring; now for the moment td-Fi-ga; 1-, there is shown the end of a, fishing line-1 w merge: cured toithe one eyelet of a barrel sw'iv l he other end of this barrei servers ispmeee witnm arr operiab'leilink I 1 whlch li nk; in turn, isfuritioha'illy integrar-wit hem'a-in wire or strand- 3" ofthe lealderor fisit-iin g.- H 1 'I he link -l'I i's- -held i place' by the -cellar 13 which wm' be hereinafter meritionedr Also fixedly held to the main strand't-"i's 'the upper spreader 1-, while near th'e lower eiicF of the leader is' fixedly seeiired th elovier spreaderw I- by a=- similar coll'air 1"4 which also secures the lower free endof the leader 3 to form' the filed loop -25;

Through the lower loo'p 25 0f the leader may be passed ah dpenable -link fiwhich link is shown m detail in a' pr'evioiis' applicatiorrfiledby'me on Deck 16; 194'4, serial filo-56834 This detacli' able link- 4 may have previously been passed through the e'yelet- 5 of a sinker 6 the sinker fi in the'present iristance'b'eing of-the pyrz'zrriidal type, although; a barik sinker or'anyother form of sinker may paused: a

Of course, the rigor leadeiiscomplete, that "is;

3 from a commercial standpoint without the sinker, but I have illustrated a sinker in place to show how the same may be conveniently attached.

Having thus generally described the rig or leader as it will be used, with the exception of course, that the hooks are not shown as connected to the respective spreaders, reference will now be made in detail to the several parts, and first to the connecting link I'I which is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 8.

It will be seen that this link I! is somewhat similar to the connecting link shown in the previous application mentioned above to wit: Serial No. 568,475, filed Dec. 26, 1944, with the exception, however, that this link is to be a permanent part of the rig, and is made of two pieces of wire rather than one piece of wire.

Furthermore, the lower portion of the link has two free ends l8 and then the free ends are respectively turned back 'oh themselves as at I9 to thus form an enlarged portion or head, the purpose of which will be shortly described.

The wire strands of the connecting link are bent back on themselves as at 24, and then the one end is bent transversely :of the loop to form a crossbar 28 with the hook 2I at its end, while the other strand of the loop is likewise bent to form a crossbar 22 but extending in the opposite direction and then provided with its hook 23. These respective hooks 2| and 23 lock or fasten over their respective upright portions 2 I and 23'.

Referring to Fig. 9 for the moment, it will be seen that the upper end of the leader 3 is also provided with a small bead or return bend I5 so that here again there is an enlarged end similar to the enlarged ends I9 on the free ends of the connecting link I'I,

Now, referring for the moment to Fig. 7, there will be seen what I'term the upper spreader I with its preferably rectangular eyelet 8 at its outer end and the downturned legs 9 at its inner end, and in a like manner the free ends of these legs are also provided with small beads IEI.

This spreader is formed-from one piece of wire and the parts bent to the shape shown.

Referring for the moment to Figs. 1, 6, and 10, it will be seen that in assemblingthe upper part of the rig that a small tubular metal collar i3 is placed over the main strand 3, after which the free ends I8 of the link ii .are also passed down through the collar and likewise the free ends or legs 9 of the upper spreader I are passed within the collar.

The collar I3 then is crimped or bent or mashed in centrally on its side as shown at I6 with a tool (not shown) so that the enlarged end I5 (see Fig. 5) is above the crimped portion I6 of the collar whereas the enlarged ends Illand the legs 9 of the spreader I and the enlarged ends I9 of the link I'I will be below the crimped portion it of the collar.

It might be mentioned that the collar i3 is preferably made of copper and heat treated and then tinned with block tin to make it resistant to the action of the salt Water. Furthermore, by heat treating the copper collar, it may be more easily internally distorted thus making for a greater physical contact area than would be the case if just the non-treated copper were used.

This collar, therefore, tightly binds the spreader I, the link i? and the main strand 3 together and prevents any of the several ends from ever being pulled from without the collar.

There is little if any possibility of the parts slipping with respect to each other and even 4 should there be a slight slippage which is practically impossible, still the enlarged ends abutting against the crimped portion of the collar will prevent any parts from being pulled without the collar unless, of course, the whole collar were split or completely destroyed.

In numerous breakdown tests and using a steel wire that will withstand one hundred fifty or two hundred pounds tension before breaking, I have found that these parts will readily with stand a tension of some one hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds or, in other Words, the wire will break before the elements can pull apart.

It might be mentioned here that all the parts are preferably made of a stainless steel wire so that continued use in salt water will not affect their life or service.

It will be remembered that in my former application to Wit: Serial No. 551,421, filed Nov. 1, 1944, the free ends were crimped in the same way within the collar but the ends did not have these enlarged portions or beads formed thereon.

In Fig. 5, the free ends I8 of the loop I? are not shown as crimped within the collar and were omitted merely for clearness of illustration, although it will be understood that they are fitted within the collar as just described and held similar to the free ends of the spreader 'I. In Fig. 6 the several strands are all shown as crimped within the collar.

Referring to Fig. 4, there is shown the lower spreader which is exactly the same as the upper spreader I, only it is not as large, there being a smaller loop I2 at its outer end and its inner end will be bent downwardly as shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and will have return beads at the ends of the legs (not shown).

At the lower end of the leader 3, the strand will be bent to form a loop 25 and its ends will have beads similar to the bead I5 in Fig. 9. In other words, wherever there is a free end to be held in a collar, it will have a small return bend or bead formed thereon so that there will be no possibility of the end pulling from without its collar. l v

To hold this loop 25 in position and to secure the spreader I I, I employ a collar Id similar to the aforementioned collar I3 and crimp in theside in exactly the same manner that the link I3 is crimped. Through this loop 25 may be passed the aforementioned link 4 with its locking crossbars 26 and 2'1, the link being similar in all respects to the link shown in my application above mentioned to wit: filed Dec. 16, 1944, Serial No. 568,475.

By forming the respective eyelets 8 and E2 on the outer ends of the spreaders I and I I, it will be understood that a loop or eyelet of a gut leader of'a hook (not shown) can be passed over the respective eyelet and then the hook fed back through the eyelet of the spreader to thus secure the hook to the spreader and by having eyelet-s at the far end of the Spreaders, these gut loops will not work back and forth readily of the spreaders and will thus hold the hooks and their gut away from its main strand 3 to thus prevent tangling about the rig.

Referring to Fig. 11 for the moment, I have shown the rig as ready for packing. These rigs are generally packed in a Cellophane envelope and unless the upper and lower ends are curled around and around the body of the leader, they are likely to spread and force themselves out of the envelope.

However, I have found that with the constructlon above shown if I take the upper spreader 1 and turn it at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1, I can spread the .body of the lower spreader II and force the eyelet 8 of the upper spreader I through the eyelet 12 of the spreader H and the bars of the body and then turn it again to the position shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 11 and thus hold the two ends of the leaders in the position shown in Fig. 11. Then there is no possibility of the leader unwrapping or uncurling, which makes for quicker and better packaging.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an eflicient rig or leader that is easily assembled, will be elficient in service and is practically impossible to destroy as regardless of the amount of tension placed on any or all of the parts, the line will snap long before the rig will be broken.

It can be used with a light line or it can be used with a relatively heavy line and still never pull apart or break in service.

Due to present conditions, swivels are practically impossible to obtain .but by forming the rig as shown, the rigs can be made up in quantities and later on when swivels are obtainable, they can be easily fitted in the upper loop I! as shown in Fig. 1.

Many slight changes may be made without in any way departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is new and desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fishin rig, a main wire or leader, supporting means at the upper end of the leader, a wire spreader having an eyelet at its outer end and the inner end of the spreader secured to the leader; a lower spreader also provided with a smaller eyelet at its outer end and having its inner end fixedly secured to the leader, supporting means at the lower end of the leader, the smallest dimension in the plane of the larger eyelet being greater than the largest dimension in the plane of the smaller eyelet and the legs of the spreader having the smaller eyelet being substantially parallel and of spring wire, whereby the larger eyelet may be forced through the smaller eyelet with a portion of the larger eyelet passing between the legs of the spreader with the smaller eyelet to thus prevent the leader from becoming unwound when the leader is in a coiled condition.

2. In a fishing rig, a main wire or leader, supporting means formed at the upper end of the leader, a wire spreader formed of one piece of wire and bent back on itself and having an eyelet formed at its outer end and downwardly extending legs at its inner end, means for securing the spreader to the leader; a similar but smaller spreader secured near the lower end of the leader, supporting means also secured at the lower end of the leader, the smallest dimension in the plane of the larger eyelet being greater than the largest dimension in the plane of the smaller eyelet and the legs of the spreader having the smaller eyelet being substantially parallel and of spring wire, whereby the larger eyelet may be forced through the smaller eyelet with a portion of the larger eyelet passing between the legs of the spreader with the smaller eyelet and thus prevent the leader from unwinding when the said leader is in a coiled condition.

LOUIS A. HICKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA IEN TS Number Name Date 401,244 Basel Apr. 9, 1899 503,181 Webb Aug. 15, 1893 745,131 Abbath Nov. 24, 1903 806,789 Fleeger Dec. 12, 1905 953,125 Desmond Mar. 29, 1910 1,159,325 Mitchell-Henry Nov. 2, 1915 1,236,551 Dillon Aug. 14, 1917 1,702,417 Sandbo Feb. 19, 1929 2,250,278 Skoverski July 22. 1941 2,392,147 Hickson Jan. 1, 1946 

